sleeping habits

[Rhe]

hi im new and expecting my 6week old baby grey in a week. i have done some research on whats important, but could'nt find any info on how they should sleep. should i put it in the cage at night or what? and how many times should he be fed??

also what exactly can i feed him when he is at this age? besides from the vegetables and fruits etc.:unsure:

so if you could answer these questions it would be GREAT! :cheer:

[judygram]

Hello, Rhe, congrats on the impending arrival of your new grey and if it is only 6 weeks old then you must be going to continue to hand feed it, am I right? Probably at that age it should stay in some kind of box or other container without any perches and with some kind of soft bedding. When it is older and starting to perch then you can move it to a cage.

 

You need to talk to the breeder to find out what you should be doing, and if you have never done this before I would caution you on doing it yourself anyway, this is something for people who know what they are doing, you could kill it if you don't know what to do.

 

Why don't you introduce yourself in the welcome room and tell us some more about yourself and this new grey, then we will be better prepared to answer your questions.

[Christina]

Wow, that is young. Are you experienced at handfeeding? At 7 weeks, he/she will be introduced to other foods but will be still be on formula. Is this your first bird? Are you buying him from a breeder or a pet store? Why don't you tell us a little about yourself so we know more about you might need to know? Welcome to the board.

[dblhelix]

Greetings Rhe,

 

Congrats on your pending new grey. To echo what Judy said, you need to be really careful with such a young burd. Unless you are an experienced bird owner and hand feeder it is strongly recommended you only take home a fully abundance weaned baby. Ask your breeder, confirm and observe yourself that the bird is eating on its own (eg no hand feeding necessary) before you agree to take it home.

 

Every bird will complete the weaning process at a different time. For greys this is usually between 10-18 weeks. Once fully weaned they can and will start eating just about anything. There is good info on this forum about diets people are having success with. Generally a good pellet diet plus daily fruits/veggies and/or a seed diet supplemented with daily fresh foods works well. There are good discussions on this board regarding diet that you can search and read.

 

Regarding sleeping, most owners have their bird sleep in the cage. Some have a special smaller "sleeping cage", but most do not. Generally the cage is their safe zone and where they will be comfortable sleeping. Some have success with covering the cage at night, others choose not to. Does not really matter much, but it is a lifestyle decision. If you get them used to being covered you may have to arrange do to that all the time, even if you go away for a short time etc. There are other posts on this forum addressing covering you can search and read.

 

Again, welocome aboard. We hope we can provide more information. Please do confirm the status of your bird before you bring it home. Unless you are experienced do not agree to bring it home until fully weaned. This recommendation is in the best interest of the bird and you. <br><br>Post edited by: dblhelix, at: 2007/11/16 16:50

[birdgranna]

Ny grey Quinn sleeps in a little tent. He heads right in there at bedtime. He has always slept in one.

[loviechick]

Wow you're getting a 7 week old baby Grey, I'll second the notion of everyone else saying that is REALLY young, hopefully you can handfeed.

 

As far as sleeping habits I won't leave my birds outside of a cage at night, as if they get spooked they could fall to the ground, hurt themselves, and bleed out by morning if you don't hear them. I keep mine uncovered in a cage, as they don't get a cover in the wild, and they all do fine. Based on where they are in the wild geographically, they get about a 12-12 ratio of light to dark, so I turn the birds lights on when I get up at 7:30 in the morning, and they go to bed at 8 on the dot every night.

[Dave007]

Simply by the questions you're asking, I think it would be wise to contact the breeder and tell him/her that you only want a fully weaned bird. If the person refuses, go to another breeder. The person who's selling this bird is irresponsible and is risking the bird's life by selling to an inexperienced customer, even if this breeder has a good reputation. Very bad practice. Should be a law against it.

Take the extra time and read up on everything you can get about having a new bird in the home.

[Talon]

Everyone gives excellant advice. That is an awfully young bird to acquire if you don't have prior experience with babies like that. Please do your research and heed everyone's advice, for the sake of that baby.

[danmcq]

Welcome Rhe!!

 

I can only say "Ditto" to all the great comments and advice the other experienced owners and BREEDERS here have already posted.

 

You have a precious little life in your future, please don't make any decisions that could be detrimental to it. :-)

[dumfatnhappy]

birdgranna wrote:

Ny grey Quinn sleeps in a little tent. He heads right in there at bedtime. He has always slept in one.

 

funny, goofball did the same thing, bedtime he'd head right on int there, only now that we have aquired another grey (older female) she no longer sleeps in the tent. Ever since we put their cases next to one another. Not sure what to make of it but hopefully it'll be temprary.

[dumfatnhappy]

birdgranna wrote:

Ny grey Quinn sleeps in a little tent. He heads right in there at bedtime. He has always slept in one.

 

funny, goofball did the same thing, bedtime he'd head right on int there, only now that we have aquired another grey (older female) she no longer sleeps in the tent. Ever since we put their cases next to one another. Not sure what to make of it but hopefully it'll be temprary.

[BMustee]

I got my grey at 6 weeks, but I am experienced with hand feeding, and only live 5 miles from the breeder that I got him from. The breeder said if it wasn't for how short a drive it was to his house to mine he would not have sold him to me even with my ability to hand feed. He was on 3 hand feedings a day, but yours could still be at 4. You need to think about that...one feeding a 6-7am, another at 3-4pm, and another at 10-11pm...and that’s if it's on 3 feedings. You can't stray from that time frame...not even for a day. My work schedule changed a few weeks after I got him, so I had to bring him to work with me every day...are you able to do this? If you are not experienced with hand feeding you can kill him in a matter of seconds. All it takes is a small amount of food go down the esophagus...and there is NOTHING you can do once that happens. That is actually the best case scenario with hand feeding deaths...sometimes the baby will take a day of suffering before it dies...it could be from a hole being burned in the crop, crop infection, starvation due to a lazy owner...the list goes on. They also at this age should not be in a cage...they need to be in a brooder tub, and after that should be in a transitional cage. The last thing you should be thinking about with a 7-week-old grey is it's sleeping hobbits.

 

Unless you are at a professional level of hand feeding, and are able to feed the baby on time every day please do not get him...wait till he is weaned.